Flower Crowns
by rilihei
Summary: Aladdin considered himself to be lucky when it came to royalty. (Mentions of unrequited AliKou feels, hinted AlaKou.)


**The Magi fandom is currently freaking out over Night 315, for AlaKou was** _ **hinted**_ **at. I wrote this simply because I could, and you may interpret this however you wish. I like to think of them as good friends, with Aladdin possibly having a bit of a crush on her. I will update my other stories soon, I promise!**

 **Disclaimer: Magi does not belong to me.**

 **WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE MANGA**

* * *

Aladdin considered himself to be lucky when it came to royalty.

He seemed to get along well with royalty. He easily befriended those of royal status. Alibaba, Hakuei, Hakuryuu, Kouha, Kouen, Takeruhiko— he could even go as far as to mention the former king of Sindria. Magi or not, he liked to believe he could get along well with royalty regardless.

There was always a crisis of some sort that occurred between Aladdin and these people, however. There were usually multiple. He tended to remember the larger ones— the ones with outcomes that still effected the way he lived his everyday life. He rarely let one of these crisises form a wedge in his relationship with the person he shared the experience with.

Aladdin considered himself to be lucky when it came to royalty. He befriended royalty with, for the most part, little problem. And there was always a crisis involved.

Kougyoku Ren was an exception to most of these things.

They had met during a crisis, on opposing sides. It took Aladdin quite a while to get over what happened during that crisis— the loss of his dear friend Ugo haunted him for months and Aladdin still missed him dearly— and he was rather late in befriending Kougyoku. They had to call a truce before even making the first steps towards friendship.

Now, one could consider the loss of Ugo at Kougyoku's hands to be the crisis of their friendship. But Aladdin had forgiven Kougyoku for that and no longer held a grudge.

One could consider the battle in Magnostadt to be the crisis of their friendship.

One could could consider Kou's civil war to be the crisis of their friendship.

Aladdin did not consider any of these things to be the crisis of his friendship with Kougyoku.

None of them seemed to outweigh the other in his mind.

No, Aladdin believed the crisis of their friendship was unfolding before his very eyes.

The empress of the Kou Empire was sitting before him, tears streaming down her cheeks as she clutched the flower crown she'd been making for him in her hands. Her face was red— almost as red as her hair— and she was turned away from him.

She'd invited— dragged— him to the palace garden with the intention of spending time with him and enjoying a scheduled picnic at the expense of the chefs. With Alibaba gone, the empress had no one other than Ka Koubun and Koumei to talk to. He understood that both men could be terribly boring, and the moment he agreed to join her, she'd taken him by the arm and began pulling him in the direction of the garden.

He wasn't quite sure when she had begun collecting flowers, much less when she had started tying them together to form a flower crown.

"Are you okay?"

The empress shakes her head, dropping the crushed flower crown and reaching up to furiously wipe at her face with the long sleeves of her gown.

A moment passes before Aladdin speaks again.

"Are you okay?"

"No," Kougyoku answers, anger flashing across her face. "No, I'm not."

Another moment passes, a moment where Aladdin tries to block out the sound of her sniffling.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," She replies, glaring at him. Her eyes are puffy. "No, I don't."

Several suffocating, awkward moments pass this time. Aladdin isn't the one to break the silence.

"You're bad at comforting people," Kougyoku laughs, placing her hands back in her lap. A sad smile graces her features. He found himself focusing on the redness of her face. "Stop staring, Aladdin. That's rude."

"Sorry."

Aladdin doesn't think he'll be able to continue this conversation with the empress if there's another awkward pause.

He takes it upon himself to keep the conversation going.

"It's Alibaba, right?"

"What?"

"You're crying because of Alibaba."

"That's ridiculous, Aladdin."

"No, you're crying over Alibaba and Morgiana."

"I'm happy for their engagement. Why would I cry because of them?"

"Because you were in love with Alibaba."

Kougyoku blankly stares at Aladdin, her mouth agape and her eyes wide. He's staring at his feet, trying to look anywhere but at her. She lets out an airy laugh.

"That's not—," Her voice breaks and she stops herself. "That's not true."

"Then why were you crying?"

"I used to make flower crowns with—," Her answer starts out smoothly, but she tenses when the reality of it all hits her. "— with Alibaba."

Aladdin glances over at her.

She's crying again.

"He's the one that taught me how to make them," Her words are broken in between sobs. "Alibaba's the one who taught me how to make them."

This time, it isn't moments that pass.

It's minutes.

Several minutes where Aladdin wants to say something to make Kougyoku stop crying. Several minutes where Kougyoku tries to hide her face from the Magi. Several minutes where they both sit in silence.

"Well," Aladdin inhales deeply, the smell of flowers invading his senses. "You could teach me how to make them."

"What?"

Aladdin turns to face her, smiling. He's plucked a few flowers from the ground, holding them out to Kougyoku.

"I said you could teach me how to make them," He repeats.

The empress stares at him before a smile stretches across her face.

"You're going to need more flowers than that," She laughs.

Aladdin considered himself to be lucky when it came to royalty.

Even though there was always a crisis of some sort between him and said royalty, it was easily overcome.

He tended to remember the larger ones— the ones with outcomes that still effected the way he lived his everyday life.

The crisis he remembers sharing with Kougyoku isn't the time Ugo was lost. Or the battle in Magnostadt. Or the civil war in Kou.

The crisis he remembers is the time he had to comfort her in the garden of Kou's palace.

And Aladdin still proudly considers himself to be lucky when it comes to royalty.


End file.
